Also called: Timber Engineer, CLT Design Engineer
Designs giant engineered-wood panels and beams used to build wooden office towers and schools.
You work for a company that makes cross-laminated timber, huge panels of glued wood that replace concrete. You model a 12-story building in software, figure out where every panel, screw and steel connector goes, and send cut files to CNC machines that carve the panels to the millimeter.
Estimated from civil engineer wages; a fast-growing niche.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in civil/structural engineering or wood science; PE license for senior roles.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Wood Science, Architectural Engineering.
Growing faster than average. No separate BLS projection; mass timber factories are expanding across the US.
Low risk for 10 years. Mass timber is a growing building system; AI aids structural design, but licensed engineers sign off and solve site issues.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Drafting/CAD class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2051.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.